Accession Number
1975/1.76

Title
Entrance to Scranton

Artist(s)
Zoltan L. Sepeshy

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
circa 1935

Medium & Support
tempera on canvas

Dimensions
25 in x 30 1/8 in (63.5 cm x 76.5 cm);32 1/8 in x 37 1/8 in (81.6 cm x 94.3 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. Jean Paul Slusser

Subject matter
Zoltan Sepeshy was commissioned to paint murals and also made easel paintings. Mid-western industry was often the subject of his work and he frequently depicted cityscapes like this one. Scranton, PA was a major anthracite coal mining area in the early 20th century. In 1935, Sepeshy painted another view of the same supbject, Scranton Coal Chute. 

Hungarian artist, Zoltan Sepeshy, immigrated to the United States in 1921. After a brief time in New York, Sepeshy settled in Michigan. Sepeshy worked for Detroit architect, Albert Khan, and through him, met and became close friends with Eiel Saarinen. Both Sepeshy and Saarinen had close ties to Cranbrook in its early stages of development. Sepeshy began as a painting instructor (1930), then was the head of the painting department, next he became resident-artist (1933), and then director once Eliel Saarinen died (1947), and finally president (1959).

Physical Description
This is a scene of a city with a road receding into the distance in the center and multi-level buildings and utility poles on either side of it. Dark colors are used throughout the painting.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Hungarian
arches
buildings
buildings (structures)
industry (economic concept)
modern and contemporary art
roads
stair
telephone pole
utility poles